Method for assembling frameless prismatic mirror with edge protection feature

ABSTRACT

A method for assembling a vehicular interior prismatic rearview mirror assembly includes providing a glass mirror substrate. The rear surface of the glass mirror substrate is coated with a reflector coating, and a protective coating is disposed over the reflector coating. A rear perimeter edge region of the glass mirror substrate is chamfered so that an angled surface is disposed between the rear surface and the perimeter edge. The reflector coating and the protective coating are disposed at the rear surface where the angled surface meets the rear surface. An encapsulant is disposed about a perimeter region of the rear surface so as to encompass and overlay the reflector coating and the protective coating at the rear surface and so as to encompass and overlay a portion of the angled surface, with no part of the encapsulant being disposed at the forward rounded perimeter region.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/953,660, filed Apr. 16, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,705,267,which claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser.No. 62/486,071, filed Apr. 17, 2017, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of interiorrearview mirror assemblies for vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to provide a mirror reflective element for an interior orexterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle. If the mirror isframeless, the perimeter edge of the mirror reflective element may beexposed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an interior rearview mirror assembly thathas a frameless mirror reflective element with exposed rounded perimeteredges. The rear surface of the mirror substrate is chamfered or seamedat the periphery, and an encapsulant is disposed partially over thechamfered or seamed surface and partially over the planar rear surfaceof the reflective element to seal and partially cover the periphery of aconformal coating at the rear surface of the mirror substrate.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an interior rearview mirror assembly inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front plan view of a mirror substrate for a framelessinterior mirror;

FIG. 3 is a rear plan view of the mirror substrate of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a perimeter edge region of a mirrorsubstrate with rounded perimeter edge;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a mirror substrate having a reflectivelayer and a reflective layer with a protective paint layer at the rearsurface of the mirror substrate;

FIG. 6 shows photographs of a non-chamfered mirror substrate and achamfered or seamed mirror substrate;

FIG. 7 is another photograph of the chamfered or seamed mirrorsubstrate;

FIG. 8 is a photograph of a cut mirror substrate showing the seamedperimeter edge;

FIG. 9 shows enlarged photographs of the chamfered or seamed mirrorsubstrate;

FIG. 10 shows an encapsulant disposed over the paint and reflectivecoating and partially over the chamfered surface; and

FIGS. 11-12 are photos showing a mirror substrate with a window throughthe reflective coating and paint for a touch sensor, with FIG. 11showing an encapsulant disposed around the window.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, an interior rearview mirror assembly 10 for a vehicle includesa casing 12 and a reflective element 14 positioned at a front portion ofthe casing 12 (FIG. 1). In the illustrated embodiment, mirror assembly10 is configured to be adjustably mounted to an interior portion of avehicle (such as to an interior or in-cabin surface of a vehiclewindshield or a headliner of a vehicle or the like) via a mountingstructure or mounting configuration or assembly 16.

In the illustrated embodiments, the reflective element comprises aprismatic reflective element that is attached at the mirror casing sothat its perimeter edge is exposed. As shown in FIG. 5, the reflectiveelement 14 includes a glass substrate 14 a, with a reflective silverlayer 14 b disposed at a rear surface of the glass substrate, and withan opaque layer or paint 14 c disposed over the rear surface of thereflective layer.

The mirror assembly may comprise any suitable construction, such as, forexample, a mirror assembly having a prismatic reflective element that isdisposed at an outer perimeter edge of the mirror casing and with theprismatic substrate having curved or beveled perimeter edges, such asdescribed in U.S. Publication Nos. US-2016-0068108 and/orUS-2015-0097955, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,508,831; 8,730,553; 9,598,016and/or 9,346,403, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties (and with electrochromic and prismatic mirrors ofsuch construction are commercially available from the assignee of thisapplication under the trade name INFINITY™ mirror).

As shown in FIG. 3, typically the rear surface of the prismatic mirrorsubstrate is coated with an opaque layer or paint that covers andprotects the reflector coating at the rear of the substrate. That layerextends to the rear perimeter edge of the mirror substrate so as tofully cover and protect the silver or reflective layer. However, theopaque layer does not cover the edges of the reflective layer such thatthe silver is exposed around its periphery. It is difficult to seal theperiphery of the opaque layer and reflective layer at or near theexposed edge without having some of the sealant intrude onto the exposedperimeter edge of the mirror substrate.

In order to provide a larger area at which to apply an encapsulant orsealant (such as an elastomeric sealant that is dispensed, for example,as a bead of sealant, in an uncured liquid state and cures to a curedstate) to seal the periphery of the opaque layer and reflective layer,the mirror reflective element has its rear perimeter edges chamfered orseamed, with the rear edges having at least a 1 mm edge seam andpreferably a 1.5 mm edge seam. The chamfered rear perimeter edge allowsroom for an encapsulate (FIG. 11) to be disposed over the periphery ofthe opaque layer to seal the periphery of the opaque layer withouthaving the encapsulant intrude onto the outer perimeter edge of thesubstrate or the exposed surface of the substrate.

The mirror reflective element thus includes an edge encapsulant on andover the exposed silver edge. In the illustrated embodiment, the rearperimeter edge region of the substrate is ground about 1.5 mm at theback of the mirror to pull the silver away from the edge. This makes iteasier to encapsulate that edge without getting the encapsulant on thepolished edge. With the frameless (having rounded exposed perimeteredges) mirror design, pulling the silver inward by 1.5 mm or 2.0 mm doesnot show the same as a normal prismatic element since the edge has therounded design and that changes the optics so a person viewing thereflective element (when installed in a mirror assembly in a vehicle)does not see the silver edge and does not see the encapsulant. Theencapsulation can either be done with dispensing, jetting, pad printing,digital inkjet printing, spraying a conformal coating or by laminating afilm on the back of the mirror substrate. For prismatic INFINITY™mirrors with a touch sensor function, the film option may be desired.

The concept is to seal the exposed silver edge. For frameless mirrors,it is more difficult to do this and have no spill or residue on theedge. With conventional prismatic mirrors, the bezel would cover theedge and any conformal coating that might get onto the edge, so sealingthe silver coating can be done without concern with intruding onto theperimeter edge of the non-exposed substrate.

With frameless mirrors, the edge is contoured, so that the silver edgemay be less visible than standard prisms. This makes it easier to bringthe silver edge in or add a conformal coating on the back. The edge isless visible when viewed from the front.

With such frameless mirrors, the 1.5 mm chamfered edge is ground at theback of the mirror substrate, which brings the exposed silver edge inaway from the edge. This edge can now be sealed with a conformal coatingwithout too much concern about getting the conformal coating on thepolished edge of the mirror.

As best shown in FIG. 9, the 1.5 mm edge seam at the rear surfaces isangled relative to the planar rear surface of the substrate. Thechamfered edge may have a 30 degree angle relative to the planar rearsurface of the mirror substrate, preferably less than 30 degrees, andpreferably less than 20 degrees, such as less than 15 degrees, such as,for example, around 10 degrees or thereabouts. This improves the finalpackaging. With a 30 degree seam angle, there may be a gap between themirror substrate and the housing, but with only a 10 degree seam angle,the gap will be very small and not readily noticeable to a personviewing the mirror in a vehicle.

For frameless mirrors that have the touch option and a window (see FIGS.12 and 13), the exposed silver edge in the window area can be protectedwith a clear tape and a clear adhesive/PSA. It may be possible to sealthis window with a conformal coating (as shown in FIG. 12), but it maybe difficult to get an optically clear coating on the window by sprayingor jetting that would look as good as a laminated tape.

Optionally, such a tape may be applied to the edge of the mirrorsubstrate and that may be in the form of a transfer film where thematerial conforms to the chamfered edge and stays in place. Theconformal coating and the adhesive in the tape should be ionically pureand not interact chemically or electrochemically with silver and causecorrosion.

Optionally, the conformal coating may be applied by dispensing, sprayingor jetting. A typical thickness for the conformal coating is 1 to 5 mils(25 to 125 microns). The conformal coatings can be UV curable, moisturecurable or heat curable or ambient curable. They can be silicones,polyurethanes, epoxies, or the like.

The reflective element and mirror casing of the mirror assembly of thepresent invention are adjustable relative to a base portion or mountingassembly to adjust the driver's rearward field of view when the mirrorassembly is normally mounted at or in the vehicle. The mounting assemblymay comprise a single-ball or single-pivot mounting assembly, wherebythe reflective element and casing are adjustable relative to the vehiclewindshield (or other interior portion of the vehicle) about a singlepivot joint, or the mounting assembly may comprise other types ofmounting configurations, such as a double-ball or double-pivot mountingconfiguration or the like, while remaining within the spirit and scopeof the present invention. The socket or pivot element is configured toreceive a ball member of the base portion, such as for a single pivot orsingle ball mounting structure or a double pivot or double ball mountingstructure or the like (such as a pivot mounting assembly of the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,318,870; 6,593,565; 6,690,268; 6,540,193;4,936,533; 5,820,097; 5,100,095; 7,249,860; 6,877,709; 6,329,925;7,289,037; 7,249,860 and/or 6,483,438, and/or U.S. Pat. Pub. No.US-2006-0061008, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2010/028130, filedMar. 22, 2010, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties).

The mirror assembly may comprise any suitable construction, such as, forexample, a mirror assembly with the reflective element being nested inthe mirror casing and with a bezel portion that circumscribes aperimeter region of the front surface of the reflective element, or withthe mirror casing having a curved or beveled perimeter edge around thereflective element and with no overlap onto the front surface of thereflective element (such as by utilizing aspects of the mirrorassemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451; 7,289,037; 7,360,932;8,049,640; 8,277,059 and/or 8,529,108, or such as a mirror assemblyhaving the reflective element at least partially nested in the mirrorcasing, and with the front substrate having curved or beveled perimeteredges, or such as a mirror assembly having a prismatic reflectiveelement that is disposed at an outer perimeter edge of the mirror casingand with the prismatic substrate having curved or beveled perimeteredges, such as described in U.S. Des. Pat. Nos. D633,423; D633,019;D638,761 and/or D647,017, and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2016-0068108and/or US-2015-0097955, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,508,831; 8,730,553;9,598,016 and/or 9,346,403, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties (and with electrochromic and prismaticmirrors of such construction are commercially available from theassignee of this application under the trade name INFINITY™ mirror).

In the illustrated embodiment, the glass substrate has a thickness ofabout 3.2 mm and a radius of curvature of the perimeter edge of about2.8 mm or thereabouts, such that the full radius (the curved transitionfrom the generally planar front substrate to the generally planarsurface of the mirror casing) is on the glass perimeter edge. Theoutermost portion of the perimeter edge of the front glass substrateextends slightly outboard of the mirror casing such that the mirrorcasing is not exposed or viewable around the glass substrate by a personviewing the mirror assembly from in front of the glass substrate.

The reflective element has the outer perimeter edge region of the glasssubstrate rounded or curved or radiused so that the radiused glass isexposed to and viewable by the driver of the vehicle. Optionally, theradiused glass perimeter edge region may be polished to provide a smoothwater-clear surface at the perimeter edge of the glass substrate, withthe perimeter band disposed behind the radiused portion to hide theperimeter seal and provide a reflective area at the perimeter seal andoutboard thereof. Optionally, the radiused glass perimeter edge regionmay be frosted or non-water-clear to provide a frosted or non-smoothappearance around the periphery of the mirror reflective element.

The prismatic mirror assembly may be mounted or attached at an interiorportion of a vehicle (such as at an interior surface of a vehiclewindshield) via the mounting means described above, and the reflectiveelement may be toggled or flipped or adjusted between its daytimereflectivity position and its nighttime reflectivity position via anysuitable toggle means, such as by utilizing aspects of the mirrorassemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,318,870 and/or 7,249,860,and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2010-0085653, published Apr. 8, 2010,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.Optionally, for example, the interior rearview mirror assembly maycomprise a prismatic mirror assembly, such as the types described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 6,318,870; 6,598,980; 5,327,288;4,948,242; 4,826,289; 4,436,371 and/or 4,435,042, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, theprismatic reflective element may comprise a conventional prismaticreflective element or prism or may comprise a prismatic reflectiveelement of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,420,756; 7,289,037;7,274,501; 7,249,860; 7,338,177 and/or 7,255,451, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, without affectingthe scope of the present invention. A variety of mirror accessories andconstructions are known in the art, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos, 5,555,136; 5,582,383; 5,680,263; 5,984,482; 6,227,675; 6,229,319and/or 6,315,421 (which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties), that can benefit from the present invention.

Optionally, the interior rearview mirror assembly may include circuitrytherein (such as at a printed circuit board or the like disposed withinthe mirror casing, and electrical connection to the circuitry may bemade via an electrical lead or connector of a wiring harness of thevehicle. Optionally, the electrical connector may be received throughthe mirror casing and through an aperture established through the toggleelement, such as by utilizing aspects of the mirror assemblies describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688 and/or U.S. Publication No. US-2010-0085653,published Apr. 8, 2010, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The mirror assembly may include user actuatable inputs operable tocontrol any of the accessories of or associated with the mirror assemblyand/or an accessory module or the like. For example, the mirror assemblymay include touch sensitive elements or touch sensors or proximitysensors, such as the types of touch sensitive elements described in U.S.Pat. Nos, 5,594,222; 6,001,486; 6,310,611; 6,320,282; 6,627,918;7,224,324 and/or 7,253,723, and/or International Publication Nos. WO2012/051500 and/or WO 2013/071070, which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties, or such as proximity sensors of thetypes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,224,324; 7,249,860 and/or 7,446,924,and/or International Publication No. WO 2004/058540, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, or such asmembrane type switches, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,932,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, orsuch as detectors and the like, such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,255,541; 6,504,531; 6,501,465; 6,492,980; 6,452,479; 6,437,258and/or 6,369,804, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, and/or the like, while remaining within the spirit andscope of the present invention.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include one or more other displays,such as the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos, 5,530,240 and/or6,329,925, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, and/or display-on-demand transflective type displays, and/orvideo displays or display screens, such as the types disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 8,890,955; 7,855;755; 7,338,177; 7,274,501; 7,255,451;7,195,381; 7,184,190; 7,046,448; 5,668,663; 5,724,187; 5,530,240;6,329,925; 6,690,268; 7,734,392; 7,370,983; 6,902,284; 6,428,172;6,420,975; 5,416,313; 5,285,060; 5,193,029 and/or 4,793,690, and/or U.S.Pat. Pub. Nos. US-2003-0007261; US-2006-0061008; US-2006-0050018;US-2009-0015736; US-2009-0015736 and/or US-2010-0097469, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31, 2010, which are allhereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The mirror assembly may comprise or utilize aspects of other types ofcasings or the like, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,338,177;7,289,037; 7,249,860; 6,439,755; 4,826,289 and/or 6,501,387, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, withoutaffecting the scope of the present invention. For example, the mirrorassembly may utilize aspects of the flush or frameless or bezellessreflective elements described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,626,749; 7,360,932;7,289,037; 7,255,451; 7,274,501 and/or 7,184,190, and/or in U.S. Pat.Pub. Nos. US-2006-0061008 and/or US-2006-0050018, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror casing and/or reflective element may includecustomized or personalized viewable characteristics, such as color orsymbols or indicia selected by the vehicle manufacturer or owner of thevehicle, such as the customization characteristics described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 7,626,749; 7,255,451 and/or 7,289,037, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for assembling a vehicularinterior prismatic rearview mirror assembly, the method comprising:providing a mirror casing; providing a glass mirror substrate, whereinthe glass mirror substrate has a front surface and a rear surface, andwherein the glass mirror substrate has a perimeter edge thatcircumscribes the glass mirror substrate and spans between the frontsurface and the rear surface, and wherein the glass mirror substrate hasa forward rounded perimeter region that provides a curved transitionbetween the front surface and the perimeter edge; coating the rearsurface of the glass mirror substrate with a reflector coating;disposing a protective coating over the reflector coating at the rearsurface of the glass mirror substrate; chamfering a rear perimeter edgeregion of the glass mirror substrate so that an angled surface isdisposed between the rear surface and the perimeter edge, wherein thechamfered rear perimeter edge region of the glass mirror substrateextends at least 1.5 mm inboard from the perimeter edge of the glassmirror substrate; wherein the reflector coating and the protectivecoating are disposed at the rear surface where the angled surface meetsthe rear surface; disposing an encapsulant about a perimeter region ofthe rear surface so as to encompass and overlay the reflector coatingand the protective coating at the rear surface and so as to encompassand overlay a portion of the angled surface, wherein no part of theencapsulant is disposed at the forward rounded perimeter region; whereinthe coated glass mirror substrate, with the encapsulant disposed aboutthe perimeter region of the rear surface, comprises a prismatic mirrorreflective element; disposing the prismatic mirror reflective element atthe mirror casing such that the prismatic mirror reflective elementoverlaps a front portion of the mirror casing; and wherein, with theprismatic mirror reflective element disposed at the mirror casing, theforward rounded perimeter region is exposed.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the chamfered rear perimeter edge region of the glass mirrorsubstrate extends at least two mm inboard from the perimeter edge of theglass mirror substrate.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the angledsurface is at an angle of less than thirty degrees relative to the rearsurface and greater than zero degrees relative to the rear surface. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the angled surface is at an angle of tendegrees relative to the rear surface.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe forward rounded perimeter region of the glass mirror substrate has aradius of curvature that is less than a thickness dimension of the glassmirror substrate.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the forward roundedperimeter region has a polished water-clear surface finish.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the forward rounded perimeter region has afrosted or non-water-clear surface finish.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein disposing the encapsulant about the perimeter region of the rearsurface comprises dispensing the encapsulant about the perimeter regionof the rear surface in an uncured state and curing the encapsulant to acured state.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the encapsulant comprisesa sealant.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein disposing the encapsulantabout the perimeter region of the rear surface comprises one selectedfrom the group consisting of (i) jetting a conformal coating about theperimeter region of the rear surface, (ii) pad printing a conformalcoating about the perimeter region of the rear surface, (iii) digitalinkjet printing a conformal coating about the perimeter region of therear surface and (iv) spraying a conformal coating about the perimeterregion of the rear surface.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein theprotective coating comprises an opaque layer that covers and protectsthe reflector coating at the rear surface of the glass mirror substrate.12. The method of claim 1, comprising (i) forming a window regioninboard of the perimeter edge of the prismatic reflective element,wherein the window region is devoid of the reflector coating and theprotective coating, and (ii) disposing a second encapsulant at the rearsurface about a periphery of the window region so as to encompass andoverlay the reflector coating and the protective coating around thewindow region and so as to encompass and overlay the periphery of thewindow region and so as to not encompass or overlay a center part of thewindow region.
 13. A method for assembling a vehicular interiorprismatic rearview mirror assembly, the method comprising: providing amirror casing; providing a glass mirror substrate, wherein the glassmirror substrate has a front surface and a rear surface, and wherein theglass mirror substrate has a perimeter edge that circumscribes the glassmirror substrate and spans between the front surface and the rearsurface, and wherein the glass mirror substrate has a forward roundedperimeter region that provides a curved transition between the frontsurface and the perimeter edge; wherein the forward rounded perimeterregion has a polished water-clear surface finish; coating the rearsurface of the glass mirror substrate with a reflector coating;disposing a protective coating over the reflector coating at the rearsurface of the glass mirror substrate; chamfering a rear perimeter edgeregion of the glass mirror substrate so that an angled surface isdisposed between the rear surface and the perimeter edge, wherein thechamfered rear perimeter edge region of the glass mirror substrateextends at least 1.5 mm inboard from the perimeter edge of the glassmirror substrate; wherein the reflector coating and the protectivecoating are disposed at the rear surface where the angled surface meetsthe rear surface; dispensing an encapsulant in an uncured state about aperimeter region of the rear surface so as to encompass and overlay thereflector coating and the protective coating at the rear surface and soas to encompass and overlay a portion of the angled surface; curing theencapsulant to a cured state, wherein no part of the encapsulant in thecured state is disposed at the forward rounded perimeter region; whereinthe coated glass mirror substrate, with the encapsulant disposed aboutthe perimeter region of the rear surface, comprises a prismatic mirrorreflective element; disposing the prismatic mirror reflective element atthe mirror casing such that the prismatic mirror reflective elementoverlaps a front portion of the mirror casing; and wherein, with theprismatic mirror reflective element disposed at the mirror casing, theforward rounded perimeter region is exposed.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the angled surface is at an angle of less than thirty degreesrelative to the rear surface and greater than zero degrees relative tothe rear surface.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the forwardrounded perimeter region of the glass mirror substrate has a radius ofcurvature that is less than a thickness dimension of the glass mirrorsubstrate.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the encapsulant comprisesa sealant.
 17. A method for assembling a vehicular interior prismaticrearview mirror assembly, the method comprising: providing a mirrorcasing; providing a glass mirror substrate, wherein the glass mirrorsubstrate has a front surface and a rear surface, and wherein the glassmirror substrate has a perimeter edge that circumscribes the glassmirror substrate and spans between the front surface and the rearsurface, and wherein the glass mirror substrate has a forward roundedperimeter region that provides a curved transition between the frontsurface and the perimeter edge; coating the rear surface of the glassmirror substrate with a reflector coating; disposing a protectivecoating over the reflector coating at the rear surface of the glassmirror substrate; wherein the protective coating comprises an opaquelayer that covers and protects the reflector coating at the rear surfaceof the glass mirror substrate; chamfering a rear perimeter edge regionof the glass mirror substrate so that an angled surface is disposedbetween the rear surface and the perimeter edge, wherein the chamferedrear perimeter edge region of the glass mirror substrate extends atleast 1.5 mm inboard from the perimeter edge of the glass mirrorsubstrate; wherein the reflector coating and the protective coating aredisposed at the rear surface where the angled surface meets the rearsurface; dispensing an encapsulant in an uncured state about a perimeterregion of the rear surface so as to encompass and overlay the reflectorcoating and the protective coating at the rear surface and so as toencompass and overlay a portion of the angled surface; curing theencapsulant to a cured state, wherein no part of the encapsulant in thecured state is disposed at the forward rounded perimeter region; whereinthe coated glass mirror substrate, with the encapsulant disposed aboutthe perimeter region of the rear surface, comprises a prismatic mirrorreflective element; disposing the prismatic mirror reflective element atthe mirror casing such that the prismatic mirror reflective elementoverlaps a front portion of the mirror casing; and wherein, with theprismatic mirror reflective element disposed at the mirror casing, theforward rounded perimeter region is exposed.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the angled surface is at an angle of less than thirty degreesrelative to the rear surface and greater than zero degrees relative tothe rear surface.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the forwardrounded perimeter region of the glass mirror substrate has a radius ofcurvature that is less than a thickness dimension of the glass mirrorsubstrate.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the encapsulant comprisesa sealant.